Screen assemblies with permanently attached shunt tubes have been used for gravel packing operations. The shunt tubes allow the gravel a bypass around sand bridges, restrictions, or isolation devices within a wellbore. One major disadvantage is that the shunt tubes can increase the outer diameter of the screen assembly, making it more difficult to run the screen assembly downhole. In addition, a screen assembly with permanently attached shunt tubes can require a specialty screen assembly manufactured to exact specification to stay within a required bore hole diameter. Similarly, shunt tubes can also limit the size of the deployed screen, especially if the wellbore has any restrictions therein.
There is a need, therefore, for alternate flow paths that are temporarily attached to a screen assembly and/or deployed separately from a screen assembly.